The First Black Supreme Court Justice of the United States is….

December 15, 2006 in Memphis

Airman Gates asked me if I wanted to grab a six-pack of something and head down to the Meeman Shelby State Park.  Any chance to get off of base was like winning the lottery. Only a hand few of soldiers had a car and I was lucky enough to have befriended one of them. 

Millington, Tennessee was desolate and unexciting.  Memphis was too far to walk and a cab ride would cost a fortune.  The only things to do in Millington involved strip bars or jogging. And being that I was only 18, I jogged.

So when Gates said “lets go”, I was in my shoes and out of the door before he finished his sentence.  Gates had managed to procure some wine coolers and beer from a friend of his who was 21.  We stopped and grabbed some ice and we were off.

Once we got into the park we drove around for 15 minutes until we found a boat dock and the raging Mississippi behind it.  We grabbed some drinks and sat on the bumper admiring the view.  We weren’t there 3 minutes and a Park Ranger pulled up.  Underage, open container and all of in a state park – not a good move.  The Ranger cited Gates with an open container and told him that he needed to go to the courthouse and find out his court date.   I got off with nothing.

For the rest of that day, Gates was a wreck.  He had already received his orders for his next duty station, which was for the most part in the backyard where he grew up, Whidbey Island, Washington.  Any change to those orders could mean duty somewhere he didn’t want to go.  I felt bad for him and told him I would go with him when he went downtown to the Memphis courthouse.

The next day we found ourselves standing in front of the clerk asking about the court date for my friend.  She gave him a date that was three weeks after the time he was supposed to ship out.  He explained his situation to her, that he wouldn’t be in town on that date. She said that if he didn’t show up in court, a warrant for his arrest would be issued.  To change his court date he would need to talk to a lawyer and she pointed to a gentleman behind us who she said might be able to help.

Gates went through the story again.  The lawyer said that he might know someone that would be able to help us.  He told us to go get some lunch and to be back in an hour.  Over lunch, Gates chatted nervously about his future.  He had worked very hard to get stationed in his hometown and the last thing that he wanted was to be on some frigate in the friggin ocean.

We finished our lunch and headed back to the courthouse.  We waited in the clerks office and the lawyer returned with a short man with graying hair and suspenders. The lawyer said:

“Gentleman, I would like to introduce you to the first black Supreme Court Justice of the United States of America, Thurgood Marshall.”

I nearly fell on the floor. Gates couldn’t speak.

“Good afternoon”, he said and we shook hands.  “I want to thank you for your military service and wish you a safe journey.  We have taken care of your problem and there is nothing to worry about.”

I think we said ~thank you~ a million times.  He asked where our orders were and wished us well again.  And he was gone.  We had a brush with legend and he threw out the citation.

And I wonder how many people can say they had an open container violation thrown out by a Supreme Court Justice?

(Rumor has it, a blurb about this moment was told in a bio of Thurgood Marshall, but I have yet to find that book)

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